Somalia’s two main rival warlords, pressured by the world’s outrage at their destruction of the country, made peace and cleared the way for a UN plan to save a million people from starvation. Blood enemies Ali Mahdi Mohammad and Mohammad Farah Aideed shook hands and embraced on a busted tennis court outside the new US mission after signing a seven-point peace plan. The two men’s feud has wrecked an entire nation. Hundreds of thousands have been killed or become refugees in two years of clan killings, famine and anarchy. “The only dream that we have is to live in peace and we are working hard to achieve it,” Ali Mahdi, who calls himself Somalia’s president, said after the talks. The Ali Mahdi-Aideed accord included an immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal of their rival rag-tag armies from the capital. They also agreed to appeal to all Somalis to end hostilities and ban hostile propaganda between their groups.
Other important events
1792 France’s King Louis XVI faces charges of treason. He is convicted, and executed the following month.
1816 Indiana becomes the 19th state of the USA.
1853 Britain annexes Nagpur, one of India’s key states.
1878 French-British dual control in Egypt is suspended.
1936 King Edward VIII of Britain abdicates with the intention of marrying American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
1937 Italy withdraws from League of Nations.
1941 Germany and Italy declare war on the US during the Second World War.
1946 The UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) is established.
1967 The first Concorde supersonic airliner is unveiled in Toulouse, France.
1972 US Apollo 17 astronauts land on the moon and begin an extensive exploration of the lunar surface.
1975 Moroccan officials in Al Aiun proclaim annexation of the Spanish Sahara as some 5,000 troops march into the territory’s capital.
1981 The UN Security Council chooses Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru to be its fifth secretary-general
1983 Military ruler Lt Gen H.M. Ershad declares himself as President of Bangladesh.
1984 Margham gas processing facility is inaugurated in Dubai.
1995 Israeli troops withdraw from Nablus as about 100 Palestinian police arrive to take control of the largest town in West Bank.
1996 Shipping tycoon Tung Chee-hwa is elected the first postcolonial leader of Hong Kong.
1997 Sharjah cricket stadium stages its first match under floodlights.
2000 Dubai Natural Gas Co Ltd (Dugas) ownership has been transferred to Enoc.
2004 Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko is poisoned with dioxin.
2005 Explosions at one of Britain’s largest oil depots jolted an area north of London.
2006 Prince Turki Faisal, Saudi Ambassador to the US, resigns from his post.
2007 North and South Korea begin a regular train service for the first time in 50 years.
2010 British boxer Amir Khan retains the WBA super lightweight title after beating Marcos Maidana.
2012 Malian Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra resigns after his arrest by soldiers.
2013 An inferno rages at Rongjian Agricultural Wholesale Market in Shenzhen, kills 16 people.
2014 A new cruise passenger terminal is inaugurated at Rashid Port in Dubai.
2016 A bombing at Cairo’s largest Coptic cathedral kills at least 25 people at Sunday mass.
